


Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe

by sprousehart_stan



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Pop's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 18:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14218896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sprousehart_stan/pseuds/sprousehart_stan
Summary: A drabble in which we see Bughead from Pop Tate's perspective.





	Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe

For as long as anyone could remember, Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe had been around. From first day celebrations to high school reunions, Friday night dates to Wednesday afternoon homework sessions, Pop’s had seen them all. Countless stories were told and retold, the townspeople’s beloved diner playing a crucial part in them. It was the very heart of the small town, and when everything seemed awful, a trip to Pop’s always helped.

Pop Tate had been around just as long as the diner. He had seen the high school romance between Fred Andrews and Hermione Lodge bloom and then die when Hermione went off to marry rich businessman Hiram Lodge. 

He had seen Alice Smith and FP Jones’ fiery amour before she left the South Side Serpents to marry Hal Cooper They had been blessed with two daughters, both smart, beautiful, and perfect - true Coopers.

Pop would watch Betty Cooper come in with Archie Andrews for a milkshake from time to time. Archie may have been oblivious to it but Pop had seen the way Betty looked at him, the infatuation unmistakable in her eyes. There were times when Betty would come in alone, tears in her eyes, and Pop would give the heartsick girl a vanilla milkshake on the house. She would sit in a booth and stare out the big window with her fists clenched, while silent tears poured down her face. It always hurt Pop to see her so upset over a boy who was ignorant of her feelings for him. She was a sweet girl and she deserved better than Archie, Pop thought.

And then, of course, there was quiet, moody Jughead Jones who permanently occupied the booth in the far back. He would come to Pop’s every day after school and type away on his laptop. Pop Tate would make sure that there was always a burger at his table, along with a plate of fries. Jughead was an outcast at school, the introvert who everyone avoided. He didn’t socialize with the other kids but being alone didn’t seem to bother him. Pop knew that the boy had been on his own for a long time ever since his mom had left him and moved away. He felt a great deal of sympathy for Jughead, but he knew the kid was fine on his own. The years had toughened him up and made him resilient to the world’s harsh ways. Yet, there were still times when Jughead would watch people come into the diner, a wistful look of longing in his eyes, for he too, wanted to be loved by someone. After all, he was just a boy.

And so as fate would have it, the heartbroken perfect girl next door and the scarred, lonely misfit came together gradually, in an otherwise despondent town. Pop Tate watched as she became the beacon of hope in Jughead’s dark world, giving him the love that he had always yearned for. Meanwhile, he became her anchor in the chaos and confusion that surrounded her dysfunctional life, providing her with the support that she needed and taking on some of the weight with her.

It filled Pop Tate’s heart with joy as he watched the heartbroken girl’s heart be mended and the desolate boy smile after a long time. They brought out the best in each other. Being together repaired their broken strings. There was always a hand to hold, a shoulder to cry on, a mouth to kiss. The emotional support they gave each other harmonized their melodies, making music so beautiful it brought tears to Pop’s eyes.

The two children he had watched grow up in darkness, that he had seen face good and bad days, deal with heartache and loneliness defied all the odds to be with each other, not caring that he was from the South Side and she from the North. They completed each other in a way that they hadn’t been able to do so alone. They were complete opposites, yet the same idea.

And seeing them happy brought Pop Tate the peace that he hadn’t had in a long time.


End file.
